Brandwave

How popular isreCAPTCHA?

In September 2026, people searched for reCAPTCHA by name about 1 million times worldwide, a 103.8% increase from the previous year. These searches made up 93% of all global CAPTCHA and bot protection service searches, placing reCAPTCHA first out of six services. When we asked both ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews about CAPTCHA and bot protection services, reCAPTCHA appeared in three of the five answers and was the second most recommended of the six.

Search and AI answers in September 2026

reCAPTCHA is the most searched of 6 competitors and the second most recommended in AI answers.

  1. reCAPTCHAShare of searches 93%Mentioned in 3 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 2nd
  2. Cloudflare TurnstileShare of searches 3.6%Mentioned in 4 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 1st
  3. hCaptchaShare of searches 2%Mentioned in 1 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 4th
  4. DataDomeShare of searches 0.72%Mentioned in 1 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 3rd
  5. Friendly CaptchaShare of searches 0.39%Mentioned in 0 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations –

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Top CAPTCHA and bot protection services in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, reCAPTCHA was mentioned in three out of five: in two of the three ChatGPT answers and in one of the two Google AI Overviews. reCAPTCHA is the second most recommended of the six.

Most recommended by AI

Brands get a higher ranking if they are mentioned earlier in the answers.

  1. Cloudflare Turnstile1st
  2. reCAPTCHA2nd
  3. DataDome3rd
  4. hCaptcha4th
  5. Friendly Captcha–
  6. Arkose Labs–

Mentioned by AI

Each dot is one answer, filled in when that answer mentions the brand.

  • Cloudflare Turnstile4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • reCAPTCHA3 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • hCaptcha1 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • DataDome1 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • Friendly Captcha0 of 5Named in 0 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • Arkose Labs0 of 5Named in 0 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers

See every answer about CAPTCHA and bot protection services

5 answers

Not named in any answer:

Brands are shown in the order each answer named them. The survey took place in the United States on October 27, 2026.

Which CAPTCHA and bot protection services compete with reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA against CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide, by month

Share of searches by month for reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of searches table
MonthreCAPTCHACloudflare TurnstilehCaptchaDataDomeFriendly CaptchaArkose Labs
Oct 202588.8%3.9%4.7%1.4%0.76%0.5%
Nov 202585.9%5.6%5.6%1.7%0.74%0.6%
Dec 202586.1%5.6%5.6%1.4%0.74%0.6%
Jan 202686%5.6%5.6%1.4%0.91%0.6%
Feb 202685.8%5.6%5.6%1.7%0.9%0.49%
Mar 202684.2%6.7%5.5%2%1.1%0.58%
Apr 202691.3%4.2%2.8%0.85%0.46%0.3%
May 202692.7%3.6%2.4%0.72%0.39%0.26%
Jun 202692.7%3.6%2.4%0.72%0.39%0.26%
Jul 202693%3.6%2%0.72%0.39%0.26%
Aug 202693%3.6%2%0.72%0.32%0.32%
Sep 202693%3.6%2%0.72%0.39%0.26%

  1. 1.reCAPTCHA

    93%

    Held 1st. 1M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  2. 2.Cloudflare Turnstile

    3.6%

    Held 2nd. 40.5K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  3. 3.hCaptcha

    2%

    Held 3rd. 22.2K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  4. 4.DataDome

    0.72%

    Held 4th. 8.1K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  5. 5.Friendly Captcha

    0.39%

    Moved from 6th to 5th. 4.4K estimated branded searches, +22.2% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  6. 6.Arkose Labs

    0.26%

    Moved from 5th to 6th. 2.9K estimated branded searches, -19.4% vs prior month. Share -0.1 points.

Compare popularity between reCAPTCHA and its closest rivals

Every comparison with reCAPTCHA

5 comparisons

How has branded search demand for reCAPTCHA changed worldwide over the last 12 months?

3 findings
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for reCAPTCHA worldwide rose from 511K to 1M.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, reCAPTCHA’s share of searches among CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide increased from 88.8% to 93%.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, reCAPTCHA’s share of searches among CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide peaked at 93% in August 2026 and was lowest at 84.2% in March 2026.

How did search popularity change for CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide in September 2026?

5 changes

  1. In September 2026, Friendly Captcha rose from 6th to 5th among CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide.

  2. In September 2026, Arkose Labs fell from 5th to 6th among CAPTCHA and bot protection services worldwide.

  3. Estimated monthly branded searches for reCAPTCHA worldwide rose 103.8% over 12 measured months, from 511K to 1M in September 2026.

  4. Estimated monthly branded searches for Cloudflare Turnstile worldwide rose 82.4% over 12 measured months, from 22.2K to 40.5K in September 2026.

  5. Estimated monthly branded searches for hCaptcha worldwide fell 18.1% over 12 measured months, from 27.1K to 22.2K in September 2026.

How are reCAPTCHA’s branded searches counted?

2 search terms

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using reCAPTCHA’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading.

  • google recaptcha
  • recaptcha

How the Brand Demand Index is measured

Who owns reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA is owned by Google. Brandwave also tracks AppSheet, Chrome Remote Desktop, Display & Video 360, Firebase, Fitbit, Gemini, Gmail, Google, Google Ads, Google Alerts, Google Analytics, Google Artifact Registry, Google Authenticator, Google Chat, Google Chrome, Google Chromecast, Google Classroom, Google Cloud, Google Cloud Dataflow, Google Cloud Identity, Google Cloud Run, Google Cloud Secret Manager, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text, Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Google Colab, Google DeepMind, Google Display & Video 360, Google Document AI, Google Drive, Google Earth Engine, Google Family Link, Google Forms, Google Keep, Google Keyword Planner, Google Maps, Google Maps Platform, Google Meet, Google Meridian, Google Nest, Google Nest Wifi, Google Pixel, Google Project Management Certificate, Google Pub/Sub, Google Rich Results Test, Google Search Console, Google Security Operations, Google Slides, Google Tasks, Google Threat Intelligence, Google Translate, Google Vault, Google Veo, Google Workspace, Looker, Looker Studio, Material Symbols, NotebookLM, OSV-Scanner, Snapseed, TensorFlow Serving, YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Studio and YouTube TV, owned by the same company, worldwide.

Do you work for reCAPTCHA? To request corrections or removal please contact us via our support page and we will be happy to assist.

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